Perfectly Flawed
by BelovedShadow
Summary: Itachi Uchiha wasn't far from being perfect. He was perfect at everything, the perfect ninja, the perfect son... but not the perfect brother, and he never will be. The question is, can he be the perfect lover instead? ITASASU YAOI! SHOTA ALERT!
1. Current State Of The Union

**Disclaimer: I don't own the junk that doesn't belong to me... that was vague... but I think you got it.**

**WARNING: SHOTA! (THAT WOULD BE INNOCENT YOUNG BOYS BEING SEXUALLY TAMPERED WITH) ALSO, IT WILL GROW INTO JUST PLAIN NORMAL YAOI (THAT WOULD BE NOT-SO-INNOCENT TEENAGERS AND MEN BEING SEXUALLY TAMPERED WITH)**

**A/N: Don't kill me... please... I know if you're one of my regular readers then you are probably pretty ashamed of my ADD right now, and wondering why all of my fics are stopped right at the good part... yeah... I'm working on that. At least I do SOMETHING every few days... even if I'm starting ANOTHER chapter fic... hehe... Just... if you're going to kill me... I would like to die of erotic asphyxiation... while fucking an Uchiha. So unless that can be arranged, I'm not ready to die yet, so don't kill me! **

**Yeahhh... I was in a Shota mood, anD in all my fics Sasuke's like GROWN! Ugh... so I had to start a new one to satisfy my current lust for a dominating Itachi and a lusty/oblivious little Sasuke. Call me a Sicko, I'll wear that title with pride! Anyways, you didn't come here to read one of my novel-long authors notes... **

**Enjoy! **

To say that Itachi Uchiha was a perfect child in every way would be an understatement. _Perfect _didn't entirely describe the total level of perfection that he'd managed to reach. Godlike was a lot more close, and in Itachi's opinion, he was much more godlike than merely perfect. The word perfect didn't leave enough space for creativity, didn't quite capture a person's personality the way _godlike _did. Especially, because the ancient Kami spirits in the history books made mistakes. Lots of them. Even in perfection, they had flaws.

Itachi wasn't as battle-scared with flaws as mythological gods were. In fact he only considered himself to have _one _imperfection, but it had become such a problem that it seemed to be outweighing his faultlessness.

Itachi was a perfect citizen, a perfect son, a perfect ninja, a perfect musician, a perfect cook, etc. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't be a perfect brother, and it absolutely broke his heart.

When he'd been told, eight years before, that he was going to be a big brother it didn't really phase him. He figured it would be some little kid following him around trying to be as perfect as he was. Another Shisui, so to speak. Or maybe it would be a younger prodigy, this made the image of the Hyuuga clan's newborn son Neji come to mind. He'd be a year ahead of Itachi's sibling in school, and surely the Hyuuga was guaranteed to be a prodigy, just as Itachi was when he was a baby. Just as his little brother or sister would be.

He hoped it was a girl. That way, maybe it would grow out of following him around and go play with dolls or something. But in the third trimester of his mother's pregnancy she had told him that it was to be a boy. It's almost laughable how disappointed he was. How _annoying _the thought of having a little shadow almost identical to himself sounded, but then again, even love at first sight requires sight, and Itachi hadn't yet seen the child.

When the day came that the little bundle of joy was finally brought home, Itachi's opinion of it changed entirely. Right then, from day one, he knew he loved his little brother. A week after his birth, the baby was named Sasuke. It seemed to fit him perfectly, but Itachi had already been addressing the infant as 'Otouto' for a week, so it had kind of stuck. He already knew that even in the later years of their lives he would rarely call the child by his actual name. It wasn't that Sasuke was a bad name or anything... it's just that Itachi _liked _calling him Otouto, because he was so delighted and honored that Sasuke was his little brother. So it seemed only natural that he should emphasize that fact at all times.

Itachi had succeeded with his goal of being a perfect brother at first. It wasn't until he was about eight years old that things started to get bumpy. The faster he progressed as a Shinobi, the further it took him from Sasuke, and he quickly realized that there was no way he'd ever be able to achieve perfection in both aspects in his life. Someone would always be disappointed, and unfortunately, that someone tended to be his precious Otouto more often than not.

Sasuke was only three when it started, so he didn't complain much, but Itachi knew that it hurt the child when he had to go away. The older Sasuke got, the more comfortable he was telling Itachi about his emotions, and the older Itachi got, the more time he was away. That would have been simple, if they were aging one at a time; but that's not how the world works. So as Itachi was getting more missions, Sasuke was simultaneously voicing his distaste, and that quickly drew the attention of the other clansman.

Initially, no one cared that Sasuke was upset by Itachi's frequent absence. Which was simply because no matter how much the boy cried, they knew nothing could be done about it. They were wrong. When Itachi finally worked up the balls to tell his father and fellow-clansman one night that he simply would _not _go on a three week long mission because it would crush Sasuke... well, things started to change.

Fugaku started feeling that his younger son was becoming a hindrance to the elder's potential. It caused him to resent Sasuke, and the resulting strain in their relationship made the child even more miserable. Which is when Itachi started feeling like shit.

No matter what he did as an Aniki, his beloved brother was still so sad when they were apart. He could exceed perfect brother standards when they were together, but he couldn't make them stay together for long which was driving him insane, and that was only the _first _of his imperfections with Sasuke. The second problem was much, _much _more serious than not having enough spare time.

The second problem, had only risen about a year ago, when Sasuke was seven and Itachi was twelve. He hadn't realized until then how imperfect he was.

It started as a very simple thing, a light touch here, a lingering hug there. Lap-sitting. Lot's of lap-sitting. It was sweet. It was pure, brotherly and sweet. Itachi had no idea when it had taken a turn. He liked to think of it as a turn for the worse, but at times it felt like a turn for the better.

He learned about himself when he was twelve, it was standard. Sex Ed. Even ANBU Black Ops had to take it. Puberty was puberty, no matter how advanced you were in other things. There came a time in every twelve year old's life, when they had to have the talk.

This talk is expected to teach the child about their own body, and the body of the opposite sex. It's supposed to make them better understand things that have been bothering them all year.

What it's _not _supposed to do, is clarify to a certain twelve year old boy that he was yearning for the touch of his baby brother in the utmost sinful of ways.

It was then that Itachi realized his biggest imperfection. He could not be a perfect brother, because he would never be able to love Sasuke the way a brother should. What he felt for the boy was something else entirely.

Which is why now, at thirteen an eight, Itachi has grown to hate himself. Because he's madly in love with his brother, and he's slowly starting to realize, that there's no way in _hell _that he can keep his hands off of him.

So as the light touches and lingering hugs turned slowly into lingering touches and light kisses, Itachi knew that he was spiraling down the tornado infested pathway of sin. He knew that. He knew it was wrong. He knew it was imperfect. And the sickest part was... he didn't give a flying fuck.

**A/N: Yes, I totally did just give you an entire too short, plot-placement first chapter with no dialogue and no smut. Pissed off? Suck it up and keep reading. It's worth the wait.**

**And while you're huffing to yourself, take some of that anger out with a REVIEW! **

**Better yet, really get in my face about it and go vote on my POLL! **

**hehe.. and if you LIKED it (for some strange reason) then give me a nicer Review than the flamers will xD**

**I love you for reading!**

**-Beloved**

**P.S. This fic is going to be fucking amazing. And I'm not the cocky type, but I can FEEL it's amazingness churning around in my brain.**


	2. Neglect

**A/N: If you leave me a review asking why I updated this instead of Reckless Abandon I swear, I will find you and I will smack you. -Okay, no I won't, but please don't do that- I'M WORKING ON IT, GOD DAMMIT! It's just not easy to write the smut scene for me right now! (Which is also why like... all of my other fics are paused right before the smut, if ya didn't notice.) I simply DON'T feel like talking about anus's at the moment, thank you very much, and there's nothing wrong with that! I will get back to feeling sexual later, I promise. xD**

**HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY ITACHI! (This is not your birthday fic, Love... I am postponing it this year because I want it to be amazing. It will be a one-shot, darling. Who do you want to fuck?)**

**Now... on to the AUTHORS NOT THAT'S ACTUALLY RELAVENT TO THIS FIC! Hehe... this chappie is WAY too short... again. It has dialogue though! Although it still focuses a lot on Itachi's thoughts and emotions and what not. I hopes you likes it =D**

**Enjoy! **

Living with Sasuke always seemed like some sort of Endurance challenge. It was as if a high un-earthly power force was trying to see just how much Itachi could stand... and then push him a little farther than that.

His brother tended to be... affectionate. -to say the least- Intimate was probably the more appropriate word to describe it. Sasuke's favourite place in the world was "By Nii-San's side, wherever that may be!" and the child didn't ever hesitate to get close to his brother. Close in every definition of the word, both emotionally and physically. So situations like the one Itachi was currently in were quite common.

At that moment, the elder Uchiha brother was sitting on his favourite arm chair. Sasuke was facing him, on his lap. The boy was straddling his elder brother with his head on Itachi's chest. Had Sasuke been awake, he certainly would have noticed the effect that their current position was having on his hormonal thirteen-year-old brother's body. Luckily for Itachi, his Otouto was fast asleep and therefore unable to realize how sick and sinful his beloved Itachi-Nii really was.

Sasuke yawned slightly to himself and shifted his weight a little, earning a genuine groan from his brother as he accidentally rubbed against Itachi's oh-so-very-sensitive-at-the-moment groin.

The elder frowned. This was simply intolerable. Usually, he prided himself in his ability to remain perfectly still and in control at all times. However, with Sasuke he lost both of those qualities. With a sigh, the elder reached for the TV remote.

He turned on a random movie from the 'Horror' section of _On Demand, _hoping that he might be able to scare his erection away.

It worked... sort of. The movie itself didn't really frighten him much at all. In fact, the only reason he became frightened at all was that his mind worked at such an unnaturally high speed. When he saw the "scary" gore scene, all he could think about was how inaccurate that amount of blood was for the places that the woman was being stabbed.

That made him think of his last mission, which made him think of how boring it was, which made him think of how he'd been away from Sasuke for so long because of his stupid job, which made him worry about his relationship with his brother, which saddened him. All of this happened in Itachi's head in about half a second, and he found himself so frightened of the thought of losing Sasuke because of his position as captain of his ANBU unit that his worrisome ponderings willed away his arousal.

The sad part was that he couldn't even claim it as blind pre-teen lust. He knew that his feelings for his brother weren't based on the sheer feeling of a hard-cock chasing after the closest warm body. It was like the endless question: Which came first, the chicken, or the egg? Which came first? The lust, or Sasuke? They went hand in hand.

And just like Itachi knew that based on evolution, scientifically the egg would have come first, he knew that Sasuke came before the lust. Just as some weird adaptation had once made another creatures egg hatch a chicken, some weird feeling in his heart had made him desperately in love with his brother. It hadn't been until later that it had also turned into a sexual yearning, which was simply because Itachi's body hadn't matured enough to lust for Sasuke until recently.

Itachi frowned. What a pathetic little runt he was. To think that people had the nerve to call him a prodigy. _Sasuke _was the perfect one. The fact that he was the only one who seemed to notice that was a little odd, but then again he _was _in love with the kid.

Sasuke coughed a little and moved slightly. Itachi knew that a gentle cough was always a sign that Sasuke was waking. He'd over examined it a thousand times, and had -of course- drawn a logical conclusion based on a Hypothesis that he'd researched time and time again as he watched the child sleep.

Sasuke breathed deeply and slowly when he slept, but took quick shallow breaths when awake, at some point just before reaching full awareness, he had to make that shift. For some reason, rather than having a gradual hastening of the breath throughout the last few minutes of sleep, he coughed. Every single time he was about to wake up, he coughed. Before the cough, deep breath. After the cough, shallow breath. Itachi had been noting that pattern for _years_.

It was sick... and he knew it. But only moments later he couldn't help but smile as Sasuke sleepily lifted his head and stared at Itachi with confused, tired eyes.

"Did I fall asleep on you again?" The child asked, giving his brother an intense moment of eye contact before blinking slowly and looking around to see which room they'd been cuddling in this time.

"Yes." Itachi replied, tightening his arms around the boy, delighting in their closeness. _'I'm going to hell' _he thought to him self sadly.

"Sorry. I really don't mean to, you just feel so perfect to lay on." Sasuke replied, resting his head once more on his brother's chest. He wasn't going back to sleep, just getting more comfortable. It was awkward to look into Nii-San's eyes for too long, he was afraid he'd get caught somewhere deep within the very depths of Itachi's soul, because that's what it felt like- like looking straight into his soul. Which really wouldn't be scary at all, if it weren't always for the pain that Sasuke saw there. He was awfully attentive for an eight-year-old, but that was to be expected considering his family name.

"Perfect at being laid on? Hn. I'll add it to my list." Itachi answered in a sweet tone, although he couldn't deny that he felt a small bit of hostility towards the word perfect as of late.

"What list, Nii-San?"

"It's nothing to worry your head over." Itachi answered, giving his brother a tender kiss on the head.

"You're so mysterious, you never tell me anything..." Sasuke pouted, sitting up once more to make sure that Itachi got sight of his angry face.

Itachi chuckled, placing a gentle kiss at the corner of his brother's signature frown. Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Your kisses are so annoying, Nii-San. Let's go get some Ice-Cream, I don't feel like playing the kiss game right now."

Now it was Itachi's turn to pout, although his was a lot more genuine that Sasuke's. He knew he had NO right to be upset that his eight year old brother didn't want to kiss him, but it still hurt his feelings. "Annoying?" He asked.

Sasuke nodded, lifting himself off of his Aniki's lap and stretching once his feet hit the ground. "It's always the same. I pout, you kiss my cheek, or I cry, you kiss my tears. I can't sleep, you kiss my forehead, I come in to your room at night, you kiss the back of my neck. Then you randomly kiss my hair. Or on days when I'm lucky- like today- you might get the tiniest bit close to my lips. But you _never _give me real kisses!"

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "What do you know about real kisses? You've never even seen a PG-13 movie."

"Itachi-Nii, I'm not an idiot. We have parents. Besides, even in rated G movies they kiss correctly."

Itachi smiled, reaching to pull the boy back to their previous position, then kissing his ear. "Tell me, Otouto;" He whispered. "How is it that you want me to kiss you?"

Sasuke smiled, and leaned back for a second. "Yah~! Nii-San, close your eyes! Don't be weird!" He scolded playfully, placing a small soft hand atop Itachi's eyes before leaning into the elder Uchiha's face.

Sasuke kissed his brother softly on the lips, without hesitation; and why would he have hesitated? Itachi had been mistakenly training the kid to love him in all the wrong ways for over a year. It was only a matter of time before Sasuke started having the same feelings himself.

Itachi smiled as his Otouto retreated from his lips and stood up again. There was no tongue, but that didn't make it any less passionate.

"Well, Sasu-chan, if you kiss me like that more often I'll buy you ice cream every time I can." The elder commented light-heartedly. Standing himself up to trail lazily behind his brother as he was led out of the front door, and towards the Ice Cream shop down the street.

Sasuke grinned. "You don't have to, Nii-San! I like kissing you just cus." He replied cutely, skipping along, but turning back every few steps to make sure that his freakishly-silent brother was still following behind him. "Although," He added with a frown. "That deal wouldn't really be fair anyway."

"Why?" Itachi asked curiously. Reaching to exchange his money for two Ice Cream cones that the teller had started preparing as soon as she saw the brother's headed towards her little shop. She already knew what they wanted, they were regulars.

"Because even if you really did buy me ice cream whenever you could, that would still only be like twice a month." Sasuke answered pointedly, licking away at his cinnamon flavoured treat.

"Why do you say that?" Itachi asked, already knowing the answer.

"You never make time for me. It's ANBU this and ANBU that. You're ANBU captain Itachi Uchiha most of the time. How do you expect to buy me Ice Cream so often if you never see me for more than five minutes a day?"

Itachi frowned. He didn't have a reply, so they just walked in silence. Inside he was having a miserable mental battle with himself, and he sunk back into the safety of emotionless depression.

He planned to throw the cone away at the next trash can they saw. Much like his day, it was no longer sweet, or pleasant. As he took yet another lick, to prevent it from dripping down his fingers, all that he could taste was empty, detached, coldness.

**A/N: Poor Tachi-Chan! :( **

**I'm making his life so hard lately... **

**Anyways... REVIEW! (and take my poll, cus it's about Uchiha smex)**

**I love all the readers! (although the one's who review have a VIP place in my heart xD)**

**-Beloved**


	3. An Early Morning Chat With Lucifer

**A/N: Another teeny-tiny chapter. I saw that this fic is getting a lot of good feedback and decided to update, so here you go! It's short, but necessary. **

**Enjoy!**

"Aniki, do you love me?"

Itachi looked back at his front door. It was only five in the morning, and he was headed out to meet up with his ANBU team, so it was already a shock to see a wide-awake pajama-clad Sasuke at the doorway. The question just unnerved him even more than the boy's unpredicted presence.

"Yes." He answered honestly, looking at the sky to help estimate his time. Judging by the position of the moon, he decided that he had enough time to tuck his brother back into bed before setting out again. He walked back towards the house and offered his arms to the child, a signal that they both knew to mean that Sasuke was allowed to be carried if he wished.

The younger Uchiha agreeably raised his own arms and let himself be picked up bridal style and taken back inside. "Do you love me a lot?"

Itachi kissed his Otouto's forehead lightly. "I love you most."

"What's that mean?" Sasuke asked, now recapturing the tiredness that he should have had and snuggling in close to Itachi's chest. The boy frowned. Itachi wasn't nearly as comfortable when he was wearing his ANBU gear.

"It means that I love you more than I love everyone else."

"Even the Hokage?" The little raven asked at barely a whisper.

Now Itachi frowned. He understood the question behind what Sasuke had actually said. The question wasn't really _"Do you love me more than the Hokage?"_ The real inquiry was: _"If you love me so much, why are you always out doing work for the Hokage instead of staying here with me?". _It was a thought that upset Itachi. He didn't like it when Sasuke was in jealous moods, because they made him feel bad.

"My love for you is different, and at the same time joined with my love for the Hokage."

Sasuke pouted. Their little walk had been far to brief. He was already being laid gently onto the familiar downy comforter on his bed. "How is it joined?"

"You are a part of the village. My work for Hokage-Samma helps to keep you safe just like everyone else. I know you want me for yourself, but it can't always be like that. Not yet."

"When?" Sasuke asked, tightly keeping his grip behind Itachi's neck, so as not to allow himself to be put down completely.

"I don't know, Otouto." Itachi answered. It was again, brutal but honest. "I have to go now." Another unpleasant truth. It pained him to burden Sasuke with thoughts of the 'real world'. If there was one concept that Itachi was fully in agreement with it was that ignorance is bliss.

If it was all up to him, he and Sasuke's reality wouldn't be reality at all. He was sick of living in a world where everything was defined by what was "real" or "true" or even in his case, "perfect". If the world were fair, he'd be alone with his little brother on a peaceful field somewhere, trapped forever in the wonderful illusion of _true _perfection; the kind found in nature that would never truly be achieved by mankind.

But Itachi's hopes and dreams were just that: dreams. A falsehood. An idea that lingered only in the deep depths of his own mind, and could therefore not be a reality. Simply because no one else would accept it as one. He'd have to trap himself in his own Genjutsu if he wanted to experience such heaven. Unfortunately, he was one of the only three clansmen who could even use his eyes in such a magical way, and there was no way that Uncle Madara or Uncle Izuna were going to waste theirs on something so trivial. Plus, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't just look in the mirror and trick himself into a mirage of paradise.

"Tachi-Nii," Sasuke began hesitantly.

"Hn." Was his elder brother's reply. They were both attempting to ignore the fact that Itachi had to leave.

"Do you mind if I sleep in your bed while you're gone?"

Itachi leaned down, scooping his brother up properly so that they were again attached by more than Sasuke's hand's desperately holding on behind his neck. He lifted the child and stood, walking them across the hall to his bedroom.

Sasuke smiled. Nii-San's bed was bigger and more comfortable, but that's not why he liked it. It always smelled relaxing. It had an essence and an aura that could only be described as: _Itachi._ So he cooperated this time, and let himself be placed completely onto the bed and tucked in.

It was the weekend, so he could even sleep in for as long as he wanted, right here with the smell of his older brother lingering on everything.

Sasuke smiled up at the weasel sleepily as Itachi withdrew. "Wait, Aniki?"

"I'm in a hurry, Sasuke."

"I know but... kiss me goodnight?"

Who was he not to indulge in such a request? The minute their lips connected Itachi could feel his heart breaking. He was, in some ways, a realist. Even if he liked to imagine a better world; he was completely aware that in the actual dimension in which he lived, all things that began, had to end. Even life itself ended in death. Just as the kiss would end. It saddened him, and he found himself wishing- as he often did- that he could do nothing but lose himself in the sweet innocence of Sasuke's kisses for the rest of his life.

He pushed himself to far that morning, experimentally he let his tongue dash over his sibling's lower lip. Sasuke gasped, and Itachi slipped the moist appendage into his brother's orifice. The younger was shocked at first, but obediently let his brother suck at and wrestle with his tongue.

Sasuke leaned forward slightly pushing their bodies together, then suddenly tensed and separated quickly. For a moment, Itachi assumed the worst: That Sasuke realized what they were doing was sick and wrong and wanted to stop, but that wasn't the case.

"Aniki... don't... don't do that again... it makes me feel... weird." Sasuke breathed out in a slightly more husky version of his young slightly-girlish voice.

"Weird how?" Itachi asked. He was delighted to be the cause of Sasuke's first signs of arousal, and momentarily forgot that he should already have been arriving some place else, and he hadn't even left the house yet.

"Hot... Hot down there... like I have to pee out fire or something... and ... tingly."

"Here?" Itachi asked, allowing his hand to ghost over his brother's crotch. It wasn't really hard, but definitely not in a complete flaccid state either.

"Yeah. But there must be something wrong... that things just for peeing out of, right?"

Itachi smiled, placing another kiss on his brother's forehead. "No, Otouto. There's a lot that I want to show you someday, but now's not the time."

Sasuke nodded. He couldn't stall his brother any longer. With a final soft kiss, Itachi disappeared faster than Sasuke's eyes could comprehend. Nonetheless the boy smiled. He was surrounded by Itachi's smell. His lips still felt warm from Itachi's touch. And in moments, he found himself having delightful Itachi-themed dreams.

But they were, after all, _just _dreams. The world wasn't perfect enough for them to be real. To Sasuke, Itachi was too perfect to be born into such an imperfect world. He must have been a fallen angel. When he run that idea past his brother, Itachi had smirked. Sasuke didn't understand his reply, but he still remembered it perfectly.

_"Perhaps I _am _a fallen angel, Otouto. But then again, so is Lucifer." _

What did that mean? Sasuke frowned in his sleep. He hated this kind of dreaming. Hated waking up and knowing that he'd been thinking about something really profound, but not knowing what. Hated thinking up memories of Itachi that he couldn't recall in his conscious mind.

Who was this Lucifer fellow anyway? And why had Itachi found it so easy to relate himself to that person? Sasuke decided then, that whoever Lucifer was, if he could be compared to Itachi, he must have been some sort of Kami.

He'd ask Nii-San about that tomorrow. Next time, he'd wake even _earlier _than five. He'd get up so early that they'd really be able to talk, or cuddle, maybe even have a light breakfast. But for now, he drifted into a deeper sleep with a soft smile gracing his face.

**A/N: I know that the conflict seems a bit repeated right now, but trust me, there's a HUGE amount of plot ahead, It's just getting started, and I need to establish the basic issues before I expand and start jerking you guys around with unexpected plot-twists, and cliff-hangers, and XXX smut scenes, and all the other stuff that I do. First, you guys need a clear view of Sasuke's position in things, and the way he thinks of Itachi, cus it's IMPORTANT later!**

**Hope that this chapter was tolerable and not TOO boring and repetitive =D **

**Now it's time for you to REVIEW! And TAKE MY POLL!**

**Love you for reading,**

**-Beloved**


	4. The Children Are The Future

**A/N: I've been thinking a lot about this fic, and decided not to make it as plotty as it was originally going to be... at this point you guys shouldn't even really notice the change, but I just wanted to let you know.**

**Enjoy!**

Sasuke was sitting in his class at the academy with a blank bored look on his face. He was tired- he'd woken up at four that morning so that he could make Itachi breakfast, but that had turned out horribly the eggs were burnt and the waffles were undercooked on the inside. But Itachi-Nii was so sweet, he'd eaten every bite. Even when Sasuke had pointed out that the meal was disgusting Itachi had told him that it was made with love, so it was delicious no matter what.

That made Sasuke happy to hear, but he still wished that Itachi hadn't forced himself to eat it- even if he did smile the whole time. That memory gave the boy butterflies. That's why he didn't mind waking up so early. It was the only time he got alone with Itachi, and Itachi only smiled when they were alone. It was the private smile, that he didn't give anyone else.

Sadly, Sasuke pried himself away from fond thoughts of his Aniki. Iruka-Sensei was saying something that looked important, and Sasuke had to listen. After all, if he didn't do exceptionally well in Academy, he'd never be able to go on ANBU missions with his brother.

"We'll be doing a special assignment now, class. Each year, the first year students in the academy- that you guys, writes letters to the Hokage about their dream life in our beautiful village of Konoha. The letter should include three paragraphs. An introductory, body, and closing paragraph. Please include your vision of Konoha now, your hopes for Konoha's future, and how you wish to help Konoha grasp that future."

Sasuke watched as the blonde-headed nuisance sitting in front of him raised his hand.

"Will the Sandaime actually read the letters?" He asked excitedly.

"Yes, the Sandaime Hokage cares very much about the children of our village. He reads the letters each year. Now, since you seem so bright this morning, Naruto- please help me to pass out the paper. I trust you all have your own writing utensils."

Sasuke accepted the paper that was handed to him and sat a while in thought. His ideal future for Konoha? What was his dream for the village... he could only think of one.

**XxBxExLxOxVxExDxX**

Itachi bowed low as he entered the Hokage's office. When he'd been summoned he'd expected the rest of his squad to arrive as well, but it appeared that the Hokage had only asked for him- which could mean that what ever mission he was about to be assigned was very important. Or, that this was a more personal meeting. He and the Hokage were actually quite close, he saw him as a mentor and sort of like the grandfather that he never had.

Then again, most of the children who'd lived through the Kyuubi attack grew quite close to the Sandaime afterwards. They seemed to have a special place in his heart. Most of them lost their parents in the war, and although Itachi was blessed with a loving family, he still felt very loved by his Hokage.

"You wished to see me, Hokage-Samma?"

"Yes, there's no need for such formality Itachi-Kun. This is quite the personal visit."

"Hai." Itachi said, taking off his kitsune mask and standing up straight.

"Do you remember being a student at the academy?" Hiruzen asked, looking at Itachi with eyes that seemed amused and happy- in a way that only elderly people seemed to facially express.

"Hai, I remember my academy days. They weren't so very long ago." Itachi answered honestly. He was only thirteen years old, after all.

"Then you should recall that at the end of their first year at the academy, the children write me letters about their hopes and dreams for the village, and how they wish to attain them. I believe that you wished to see the village attain peace, correct?"

"Hai." Itachi said, he was a little confused as to where they were going with this. Of course he'd wanted peace for the village. That was still what he wanted, and always would be what he wanted, yet it seemed to always be out of his grasp. Was the Hokage teasing him for his foolish wish?

"The letters for this year are quite interesting, I was wondering if you'd mind telling me your opinion about two letters in particular. That will be your last favour to me of the year, I'm giving you this summer off."

Itachi's eyes widened. An entire summer off? For an ANBU captain? It was unheard of.

"You're wondering why I'm being so generous?"

Itachi nodded, still in shock.

"Well, I'll tell you after you read the second letter." The Sandaime said, and he handed Itachi the letters. "Please read them over in the seat I've reserved for you in the far corner of this room. I would like to watch your reaction, if you don't mind."

"Of course." Itachi said, and he seated himself on the chair and looked at the first letter.

_Sarutobi-Samma, This is Naruto Uzumaki from Iruka Umino's first year class at the Academy. And I just wanted to talk to you Hokage to Hokage, cus I'm gonna be Hokage too, just not yet. Don't worry though, you'll see me in that silly hat of yours soon enough! Anyways, when I'm Hokage, I'm gonna make peace in the village. People will have to look at me, and respect me, the way they do to you, right? They'll depend on me, and I'll make it worth their while with my powerful Ninja-skills and quick-witted mind. I won't let them down. I'll be the best Hokage there ever was, believe it!_

Itachi looked up at the Hokage curiously. "It's written poorly, there's no structure, he didn't sign it, and it's only one paragraph. He failed the assignment."

The Sandaime laughed. "Yes, Itachi-Kun. He failed the assignment. Yet, I feel as if his determination will get him far. I'm really more interested in your reaction to the second letter, but I thought the first would amuse you."

"It does interest me. This boy was the Yondaime's son, right?"

Hiruzen smiled and nodded his head. "How is it that you know that, Itachi-Kun?"

"My mother and Kushina Uzumaki were good friends. The child was born shortly after Sasuke, my mother always hopes they'll grow to be friends."

"Ah, I see. So you put it together that the son of Kushina must also have been Minato's boy. It's to be expected of you to realize that, I suppose. Go on and read the second now."

Itachi opened the letter and immediately realized why he'd been given this one as soon as he read the first sentence.

_Dear Hokage-Samma,_

_ My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I am currently in my first year at the academy, in Iruka Umino's class. Right now, I see Konoha for the most part as a happy village. The people like living here, and we are all kept quite safe by the Shinobi who risk their lives daily to protect us. I know this, because my brother is one of those Ninja who work so very hard. He is Itachi Uchiha, and he works under you as a captain in the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai division. As a younger child, I was always quite elated to know that my brother was a strong man, and he would always be around to keep me safe- but that's just the problem, you see. Now, as an ANBU it's become Itachi-Nii's job to keep YOU safe, and he doesn't have much time to worry over ME anymore. I try not to be bothered by this, because you're the Hokage, so of course you're far more important than some whiny kid like myself, but to be honest, I am unhappy living in a Konoha where the people who work the hardest never get to interact with the citizens who they risk their lives to protect._

_This leads me to my ideal Konoha. As an eight year old boy, my dreams are usually filled with simple things. I don't think my mind is very complex, and there are a lot of things about the world that I probably don't know; but a simple dream would be for everyone to be happy and spend time together. An ideal day in a future Konoha would be with me fighting for our village at my brother's side, then going home with him afterwards to spend time together. In my dream Konoha, when Nii-San works, I work, when Nii-San plays, I play, and when Nii-San rests, I rest. The part that drives me insane is that it seems like such a simple wish, but so far it's proven to be impossible._

_In conclusion, I would like to ask for you to talk to Itachi-Nii for me. I know we're not supposed to ask you to do anything in these letters, and that we're very lucky that you read them, because you're a very busy man. Still, I want Aniki to know that I love him, and I miss him very much. I've already told him all of those things, but it might mean more coming from you, because you're so important to him. _

_Thank you for your time,_

_Sasuke Uchiha_

Itachi looked over the letter with a sad smile on his face. He _did _already know all of those things, and it meant more to him coming from Sasuke than coming from the Hokage, but it also meant a great deal that Sasuke would ask the Hokage for Itachi's time.

"This is why you're giving me the summer off?" Itachi asked.

"Yes. Spend it with your brother. He's young, he needs you more than I do right now. We must remember Itachi-Kun, the Hokage is only a figure head of a village, what really matters isn't an old fart like me- we need to focus on the children. They're the future. Now, go home to your brother and tell him the good news."

Itachi nodded, trying not to laugh at the Samdaime Hokage calling himself an old fart, and left the office to go home.

Home to Sasuke. He smiled to himself. He'd be home early today, and Sasuke would be excited. They'd get a whole summer together. It was the best feeling he'd had since Sasuke was first brought home. Having a little brother to love and adore was already such a blessing, actually getting three months of time with that brother was too ecstatic to comprehend.

**XxBxExLxOxVxExDxX**

Sasuke sat silently as his mother served dinner. They were having Botamochi because the warm season was coming. It was one of Itachi's favourites. He wiped his hands carefully with the hot towel in front of him as his mother sat down across the table.

"How was school today?" She asked.

"Fine." Sasuke said, looking down at his bowl. He didn't like sticky foods. It was considered rude to scrape the chopsticks against your teeth to get all of it, but there was no other way to actually enjoy the taste. If he was lucky, Itachi would be home before he was asleep tonight and sneak a tomato out of the garden for him.

Sasuke was caught mid thought when he heard the front door sliding open.

"I thought Otousan wasn't going to be home from his mission until three days from now." Sasuke said, looking at his mother curiously.

"He's not." She replied.

Sasuke sprung up from the table and ran to the foyer. If his father wasn't home, that could only mean one thing, and he wad delighted to prove himself right when he saw Itachi carefully taking off his shoes and vest.

"Aniki!" Sasuke yelled, running up to his brother and jumping up just in time for Itachi to catch him in his arms. They had mastered that move with perfect coordination almost immediately after the younger learned to walk. It was actually kind of ironic that after learning to walk he learned exactly how to be held by his brother. You'd have thought that it'd be the other way around...

Itachi chuckled and hugged Sasuke close to his body. The whole way home he'd been thinking about how wonderful this feeling would be, and it he'd still underestimated it.

"You're home!" Sasuke said, excitedly stating the obvious.

"Yes, Hokage-Samma pulled me out of a mission to talk to me about a certain letter he received."

Sasuke blushed and hid his face in his brother's chest, embarrassed that the Sandaime had actually done what he'd asked and talked to Itachi.

"Gomen... I didn't mean to complain, but-"

"I understand, it's fine. He's given me the whole summer off."

Sasuke looked up at his brother in shock. "The whole summer!" He exclaimed delightedly.

A whole summer with his Nii-San... it was going to be the best summer of his life. They'd have such fun. Every day would be a magical adventure- or at least that's what it seemed like to Sasuke.

The boy smirked.

"I'm gonna make you spend so much money!" He said with a giggle.

"Oh?" Itachi asked.

"Hai! I'll kiss you every morning, so you'll have to buy me a cone of ice cream every afternoon!" Sasuke said factually. "And then I'll get really fat from eating all the Ice cream, so we'll have to train together every night so that I don't lose control over my weight, like Choji Akimichi."

Itachi laughed and kissed his brother softly. "Okay. Sounds like a plan."

**A/N: Awwww... Sasuke! Kawaii! **

**hehe... REVIEW! And go take my poll as well. **

**Love you for reading!**

**-Beloved**


	5. Food

**A/N: Well, this chapter took a while... Blame Gravitation. Also, you can blame ItachiSasukeSama for pleasantly distracting me when I should have been writing it. You can also thank her for making me update it. So... actually, if you're blaming her and thanking her, it would really just counter the other out- you should just ignore my rambling and check out her fics instead of bothering her about mine. **

**Enjoy!**

Mikoto Uchiha considered herself to be a relatively good mother. She offered love and support to her sons when they needed it, and did all of the womanly duties around the house. She _did _have a bit of a tendency to chose favourites though- which is pretty much a guarantee to flunk out of the school for Mom's. She didn't usually show her less preferred son that she didn't enjoy him as much as the other, and she very much feared the idea of them finding out... Which is why she ended up treating her favourite son like shit most of the time- so that his brother wouldn't know who the favourite was. It seemed like a good plan... from her end.

No matter though, whether she tried to be less affectionate to Sasuke or not- he was her favourite, which is probably why she didn't react too terribly when he woke her at four in the morning his first day out of Academy.

"Okaasan... pssssst... Okaasan!"

She opened her eyes slowly, letting them absorb the sight of her eight year old seated criss-crossed on the foot of her bed.

"Why are you up so early? It's your first day of break, don't you want to sleep in?"

Sasuke shook his head determinedly. "Could you help me with something? Please? I know you're tired... but it's really important to me, and I cant do it without you..."

And so, after ten minutes of adorable begging and badgering, Mikoto and Sasuke were stealthily maneuvering through the kitchen in an attempt not to wake up Itachi and Fugaku.

**Two Hours Later...**

Itachi woke up and looked blankly at his door. It was six am. He didn't have to get up, but his body was already telling him that he'd slept in. Oh, bother- might as well just get out of bed.

He stood up and stretched, smelling the familiar scent of something delicious wafting through his nostrils. Who the fuck was already awake and in the kitchen?

Itachi walked cautiously out of his door and walked down the wood-floor outdoor hallway, glancing briefly at the courtyard and smiling. He had such good memories with Sasuke there... quickly wiping the embarrassing grin from his face, Itachi continued down the hall until he reached the small foyer that lead to the kitchen.

He was greeted by the sight of Sasuke in the kitchen dressed cutely in a sleeping garb and cheesing up at him delightedly. Itachi looked at the table, seeing all of his favourite foods cooked and laid out neatly. This must have taken hours...

"Sasuke," He whispered.

"It's for you, see? To kick off our summer together! I had to wake Okaasan up extra early so that she could help me, because I know that when I cook by myself it's not that good, cus I'm still learning... but... but this is gonna be delicious, right? The Onigiri has seaweed! And the cabbage is fresh! I got it from the garden- but don't worry, it's clean!"

Itachi simply chuckled at his brother and sat down in his chair. He almost burst into laughter as he noted Sasuke watching him with excited eyes, so he decided to tease the boy a little.

Itachi looked at his brother deviously. Picked up one chopstick. Put it back down. Picked up the other chopstick. Put it back down. Picked up the first chopstick and poked the cabbage. Put it back down. Picked up the second chopstick. Lifted the cabbage with the chopsticks, brought it to his face, and... sniffed it.

"Aniki!" Sasuke whined impatiently, giving his brother a pout as Itachi laughed to himself. Sasuke hmphed and approached Itachi. He took the chopsticks and held them to his Nii-San's lips.

"Open." He commanded, with much more authority than most eight year olds could manage to possess.

Itachi smirked and opened his mouth obediently accepting the food. He took it into his mouth slowly, making sure to drag his tongue against the chopsticks as much as possible when Sasuke removed them. It was delicious.

Itachi chewed gratefully and swallowed, then opened his mouth again, adoring the cute little eye-roll that he got from his brother as the child continued to feed him his five-star meal.

When he finished he licked his lips and smiled. "Arigato, Otouto."

Sasuke beamed. "You liked it!"

"It was the best meal I've ever had, and knowing that it was prepared with love made it all the more delectable."

Sasuke blushed, glomping his brother excitedly, he held on to Itachi for a few more moments before emitting a small yawn. Itachi frowned.

"You're tired." He said in a concerned tone, standing and lifting the boy in his arms.

"Nooooooo! Put me down! I don't wanna sleep! I wanna be up with you!" Sasuke whined, attempting to thrash his way. He beat against Itachi's chest and squirmed as he was carried to the elders room. Upon realizing their destination was Itachi's bed, rather than his own- Sasuke calmed significantly.

The weasel chuckled lightly under his breath, noticing that his brother relaxed after being placed down on Itachi's bed. "I need more sleep too, it's only six thirty. I'll nap with you, okay?" Itachi asked, getting into the bed with his brother.

"You won't leave?" Sasuke asked, snuggling closer to Itachi and closing his tired eyes. He'd had to get up at three-thirty to go harvest the cabbage before he could wake his mother to help him prepare it, and she'd gone back to sleep after getting him started.

"I'll be here."

"You're sure?"

"I won't leave you, Sasuke." Itachi said sadly. He wouldn't, still he felt a stab to the heart that Sasuke was always asking that question. He wasn't the kind of brother who could be dependable, or the kind of brother who would always be there. Why couldn't he be those things? He loved his Otouto more than was humanly possible... or humanly natural, according to some people. Was it really that impossible for Sasuke to believe that he'd still be by his side when he woke?

"Aniki?" Sasuke asked tiredly.

"Yes?"

Sasuke sat up tiredly and let his face hover above Itachi's for a moment, then leaned down, lightly brushing their lips together. He shivered feeling the tingle that always came with kissing Itachi as it traveled from his mouth down lower to places that to him still should remain unmentioned. Yet... as much as he didn't understand the feeling, he yearned for more of it.

Sasuke pressed his lips against Itachi's again, only for a whisper of a second, then leaned back down, and kissed him more firmly. He let his tongue lick at Itachi's bottom lip, and gratefully explored the moist caverns of Itachi's mouth when he was allotted entry.

Itachi groaned, loving Sasuke's experimental teasing kisses. They were addictive, but alas the boy pulled away and smiled.

"Nani?" Itachi asked, confused by his brother's gloating expression.

"I want ice cream when I wake up." Sasuke said triumphantly.

Itachi smirked. "Oh, is that all? Wouldn't you like a double scoop?"

Sasuke sat up and grinned greedily. "I can get a double scoop?" He asked in excitement.

Itachi nodded, but Sasuke didn't fail to see the sneaky upward twinge in his brother's lips. "Of course, but you have to pay me for it."

Sasuke gasped and blushed. "How?" He whispered quietly.

At this point, Itachi really was starting to realize that he was taking advantage of his little brother in the sickest of ways... and yet... he simply could not convince himself to give a fuck. Oh well... he was already killing people for a living, why go to hell for something so petty when you could do it for a much more pleasurable sin... like corrupting your eight year old brother. That was a very pleasurable sin indeed.

"You tell me." Itachi said with an internal evil grin.

Sasuke blushed, and lied back on the bed.

"Ehm... how much ice cream could I get if I let you kiss me... here?" He asked, touching the nape of his neck.

Itachi thought about that, glad that his brother was playing along.

"Here?" He asked, bending to kiss and suck on Sasuke's neck. He tasted delicious... what a shame. The child had gotten up at the crack of dawn to make breakfast when he could have just offered himself... how foolish.

Sasuke whimpered, greatly enjoying the feeling of Itachi sucking on his neck. Itachi bit softly at a particularly sensitive spot and Sasuke yelped.

"Ah... mm.. Nii-San... no, stop!"

Itachi pulled back and frowned down at the boy, clearly looking disappointed.

"Why?" He asked, tracing the spot lightly with his tongue.

Sasuke moaned. "It feels... ehm... feels..." He struggled with his words, distracted by the feeling that he still couldn't describe.

"Tell me, Otouto. How does it feel?" Itachi asked, running his hands over the boy's body, he slid them down to the bottom of Sasuke's shirt, then moved his hand under the shirt and grazed it upwards, tweaking his brother's nipple as he continued to experiment with different places to suck and bite at Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke moaned, arching his back and welcoming Itachi's curious hands. "It feels... good." he whimpered, blushing tomato red.

Itachi smiled and pecked his brother's flushed cheeks, then kissed his nose sweetly. He took his hands out of Sasuke's shirt, knowing that he could barely contain himself as it was, and taking that to the next step would surely cause them to go way too far way too soon. Of course, some would be baffled that he had timed things out- hell, some would be baffled that they even did things like that at all... but oh well. Itachi had spent too many years trying to be perfect. He'd accepted his flaw as a part of him, and if he was also perfect then that just made him... perfectly flawed? That was fine.

"So... can I have a double scoop?" Sasuke asked innocently, he sounded even more tired now than before... unless Itachi was misreading the huskiness of his brother's voice.

The elder rolled his eyes. "I'll buy you a pint."

**A/N: Yumm! That's a LOT of ice cream Sasuke, Idk if it'll fit in a bowl- you might just have to eat if off of Ita-Chan's chest. But no. You'll find a big bowl. I don't dig the sex-food thing. (Reading it- yes, Writing it- uncomfortable) **

**I hope that this chapter was enjoyed by all who read it! Please let me know with a review, and by taking my poll!**

**I LOVE the readers!**

**-Beloved**


	6. The Onsen

**A/N: So let me start this off by letting you guys know that I had NO IDEA it had been so long since I updated. For some reason I genuinely thought that this fic was like a chapter or two long and I'd just started it last week... I don't know why I thought that, but uhh... GOMEN! Please excuse my idiocy... I really am a complete dolt at times, so forgive me. I hope you accept this chapter as an apology for my stupidity. **

**Dedication: ItachiSasukeSama of course, for telling me to update this.**

**Enjoy!**

Itachi watched in restrained adoration as his brother dog paddled around in the steamy water. At first he was totally against the idea of going to an Onsen for the weekend, thinking that he absolutely would be completely and entirely unable to keep himself from taking advantage of his brother- _especially _when their parents had announced that they were busy, and _Jiraya _of all people would be chaperoning the trip. That pretty much meant that there would be no chaperone, as Jiraya would surely be spending all of his time trying to get a glimpse at the naked ladies, instead of bathing with the Uchiha boys in the private bath they had reserved.

"Nii-San! Look! I'm gonna blow bubbles!"

Sasuke was going to blow bubbles. Why did that have such a strong automatic reaction in Itachi's mind? First thought- protect Sasuke from choking on water. That was absolutely ridiculous. How could he protect someone from choking on water? Second thought- carefully watch Sasuke blow the bubbles, and make sure he doesn't get any water in his eyes. That was just as absurd as the first thought. They were at an Onsen. Water was going to get everywhere. Third thought- watch Sasuke cutely blow bubbles and stop being paranoid about every little thing. Yeah, Itachi definitely would be going with option three.

Sasuke leaned forward excitedly, pressed his lips to the surface of the water, and managed not only to blow too hard and get the water in his eyes, but also to gasp in shock from the water in his eyes and end up choking. Itachi went right back into a panic attack, immediately wishing that he hadn't allowed Sasuke to try something so dangerous.

"Otouto, are you okay?" he asked frantically, scooping the boy out of the bath and cradling him close to his chest.

"Oi! Aniki! I'm fine! I wanna get back in and try again! Put me down!" Sasuke pouted, trying to tug away from his brother's hold.

Itachi frowned. What the heck was wrong with this situation? Here he was, withholding a _ninja _from blowing bubbles... he seriously had to get over this whole love-sick feeling. How on earth would he be able to deal with Sasuke's fantasy of training together if they couldn't even survive a damn _bath _without him getting worried over every little thing? He sighed, setting Sasuke down on the cool stone ground so that the child could return to the comforting heat of the water. Sasuke looked up at him and crossed his arms, cutely raising an eyebrow as if to say "_Well?_" When Itachi didn't react to his brother's temperamental attitude the younger glared at him.

"Aniki!"

"What?" Itachi asked. He really did suck at this whole big brother thing, he had no idea what had Sasuke throwing a mini-tantrum all of a sudden. Of all things to be perfect at, he'd give the rest up if he could just have the ability to read Sasuke's mind and adhere to his every desire...

Sasuke rolled his eyes in annoyance. "You put me down!" he complained, aiming a soft kick at Itachi's leg, and blushing as he had to look past _other _exposed regions of his Nii-Sans body in order to meet Itachi's eyes again.

"You told me to." Itachi said, sounding quite confused. Sasuke _had _asked to be put down, hadn't he? This must have been one of those situations that the older guys were always talking about. When the woman says 'stop' when really she's begging for more attention. But Sasuke wasn't a woman- although, Itachi did sort of think of him the way those guys thought of their girlfriends...

"That was so that _we _could go back in together! I didn't want you to just put me on the floor and stand there! If we've gotta get out of the bath, then pick me back up! But if we're getting back in the bath then come on!"

Itachi chuckled, leaning down to kiss his brother softly on the forehead. Sasuke was having none of that, and reached upwards, getting a firm hold of the weasel's hair and positioning Itachi's head so that he could kiss him properly on the lips. Itachi sighed, wrapping his hands under Sasuke's arms and lifting the boy, deepening their kiss as he held him bridal-style. Sasuke whimpered, flicking his tongue across the elder's lip, and Itachi was suddenly quite aware that they were completely alone, and completely nude. That was _not _a combination that he could trust himself with, so he gave Sasuke one last gentle peck and set him down again.

"Aniki, why don't you kiss me other places anymore?" Sasuke asked, as his brother lead him back over to the bath and stepped in.

"That was only last week, Otouto. I haven't stopped, it just hasn't happened."

Sasuke cocked his head to the left. "Don't you want it to happen?"

Yes. He wanted nothing more than to taste the soft salty flesh of his brother's neck. He wanted to bruise and batter and assault it, and claim it as his own. If it were up to Itachi, Sasuke's pale skin would forever be tainted with deep purple markings of his undying love. But, he couldn't do that. Sasuke's thoughts, emotions, _future. _Everything about Sasuke always had to come first- or else what kind of Aniki would Itachi be? He was completely addicted to his brother, and he didn't want Sasuke to have to suffer through the same heart-wrenching feeling of affection. It wasn't easy to live, knowing that you lived _for _someone. Knowing that every move you would make, every breath you would take, every word you would speak- was meaningless unless it was for the benefit of the person you loved.

So, he couldn't seduce Sasuke again so soon. Or else he would risk trapping the child in the iron chains of love... and that would be bad, wouldn't it? Wouldn't it be cruel to force such a strong emotion onto such a young child?

"Nii-San?"

Itachi was shaken out of his thoughts and he looked at the object of his obsession with smiling eyes. "Yes?"

"Stop thinking so loud, it's scaring me." the boy said, wading over and sitting down on Itachi's lap.

Itachi tried desperately to ignore his brother's bare naked ass pressed against his penis- but it was no use. Sasuke noticed too and turned around, looking very distraught and concerned. "Is that normal?" he asked, looking pointedly downwards.

"Tch. Around _you _it is." the elder answered with a smirk.

Sasuke shrugged and rested his head on Itachi's shoulder. "That's good. Mine does that sometimes too, but not when I'm around you." Itachi immediately felt a wave of jealousy swell up through him, until Sasuke finished what he had to say. "It's more like later on, when I'm thinking about things I want to do with you when we're alone." the raven continued with a blush. Itachi let out a deep breath, glad to know that Sasuke's arousal was still his doing- just not by direct contact. It made sense though. He rarely allowed himself to touch the boy in an extremely arousing way... except for a week ago. Sasuke had only _just _finished the rest of the ice cream the morning they left to come to the Onsen.

Unfortunately, their personal conversation was cut short by a certain muscular white-haired pervert Sanin. Guess who? That's right, Jiraya.

"You two sure bathe close!" he announced, jumping into the bath and yelping in pain both from the sudden heat and the feeling of his knees crashing against the rocky bottom of the shallow water. Sasuke glared over at the old fool angrily.

"Why did we have to bring him to _our _summer date at the Onsen, again?" he asked, whispering into Itachi's ear.

The elder laughed. "Because when I told Hokage-Samma about how much you wanted to go, and how our parents couldn't make it, he decided that his old pupil- Jiraya-San- would be the most able-bodied person to look after us on this little trip."

"_He's _able-bodied? He's just some old pervert! He's barely paying us any attention! How the heck did the Sandaime think _he _was the best protection we could get?"

"I can hear you two over there!" Jiraya called back in his manly, yet light-hearted voice.

"Sumimasen, Jiraya-Samma. It would appear that my Otouto doubts your abilities. Perhaps you wouldn't mind sparing with me to assure him that you're capable of keeping us safe."

Before Jiraya had an option to agree or disagree, Sasuke interrupted. "No!" he exclaimed in a frantic voice. Itachi raised an eyebrow as his brother went on with his angry interception. "He can't! I don't want you to get hurt if he wins! And I don't care if he loses! Nii-San can protect me either way... and... and I... Never mind."

"No, what were you going to say?" Itachi asked, desperately trying to understand why Sasuke was _really _so upset by the idea.

"I don't want to see anyone else touching you." Sasuke whispered. "What does that mean?" he asked, even more quietly than the first whisper. These words were only for Itachi's ears.

Itachi responded after giving a sad sigh, and he whispered just as softly. "It means we've lost all hope."

"All hope in what?" Sasuke asked with a worried tone.

"Perfection." Itachi answered bitterly. "We're both sinners, more me than you- but both of us nonetheless."

"Why?"

Itachi leaned extra close to his brother, whispering so lowly that Sasuke himself could only barely hear them. "Because I'm not going to touch Jiraya if you don't want me to, Otouto. Because if you asked it of me, I'd never touch anyone else again. Because tonight, when everyone else closes their eyes, I'm going to touch _you. _Wherever I want. I'm going to touch you, and I'm going to love it- and so are you. And tomorrow morning, when we wake, we'll have slept better than we ever did before, but it'll be too late, Otouto. We've already purchased one-way tickets to hell."

Jiraya looked curiously over at the brothers, but decided he couldn't be bothered with knowing what Itachi was whispering about that had Sasuke blushing so much. It was normal for brothers to try and embarrass each other, so it was probably some of that. Then again, Jiraya could only see what was above the surface of the water. Had he thought to put on goggles, and examine the situation from _under _the water- he might have noticed that Itachi's secret whispers were having an effect on Sasuke that could definitely be considered abnormal for brothers.

But the Uchiha boys weren't normal brothers. Itachi had accepted that. They weren't normal. They weren't perfect. They weren't even godlike. But that didn't matter. Why? Because they were together.

**A/N: So, I'm hoping that this fic isn't too boring... sorry there wasn't more Jiraya, but I just don't find him to be that interesting as far as characters go.**

**PLEASE REVIEW AND TAKE MY POLL!**

**Love you SO much for reading xD**

**-Beloved**


	7. Touch Me

**A/N: Don't get your hopes up, it's not all that great...**

**Enjoy?**

Itachi was smirking in his sleep, no, not quite. Actually he was smirking while he was awake, but pretending to be asleep. He could hear Jiraya's snoring coming from the living room area where the Sanin was sleeping peacefully on the couch- having decided to let the Uchihas share the bedroom of the suit. Sasuke, however- was wide awake. The sounds of the child nervously shuffling about, clearly trying to decide whether or not to wake his brother were quite amusing to the elder. When the sound ceased, Itachi cracked his eyes open the slightest bit, and saw that Sasuke was sitting on the foot of their bed, arms crossed with an adorable pout painted across his lips.

The weasel chuckled, opening his eyes properly and sitting up. "You look disappointed." He commented lightly. Sasuke's head jerked up slightly in surprise and he crawled over to where Itachi was now seated and straddled his Aniki, wrapping his arms behind his brother's neck and kissing him softly before responding.

"I _was _disappointed. You said earlier that when everyone was asleep... you would touch me again." Sasuke shivered slightly and snuggled into Itachi's neck, loving the mysteriously spicy yet sweet scent of the teen. "But by the time Jiraya-San finally fell asleep, you were asleep too!" He whined.

Itachi pet Sasuke's hair and shifted slightly so that they'd be a little more comfortable. "I wasn't sleeping, I was just trying to see if you'd wake me up."

"Should I have?" Sasuke asked franticly, worried that he'd done something wrong.

Itachi shrugged. "I wouldn't have minded, but I think it's very sweet that you let me sleep even though you want me awake."

Sasuke nodded, understanding that Itachi wasn't testing him, just sort of observing him- that was much more acceptable and much less intimidating. He leaned against Itachi's bare chest and felt that same tremble that he'd mistaken for a shiver before. It wasn't quite the same, though. He wasn't cold- it was something else. "Aniki?"

"Yes?"

"Can I touch you, too?"

"Of course. You can do whatever you want to me, Otouto."

Whatever he wanted? Itachi had never said that before. Sasuke had never considered what to do if he was told that he could do whatever he wanted. Being with Itachi was always enough, he never put much thought into what they'd actually _do _once they were together- but as he looked down at the beautiful face he'd always adored, he knew that he wanted to touch. He started there, at his brother's face. Softly running his fingers over Itachi's eyelids, tracing the deep lines on his brother's face curiously. They'd always been there, for as long as he could remember. They, like everything else, were a part of Itachi. He loved them in a way. The boy leaned close, placing a gentle kiss on each one, before finally claiming the elder's lips in a curious kiss. It was brief, only for a short moment, then he pulled away.

Sasuke leapt lightly off of the bed, and poked his tongue slightly out of the left side of his mouth, taking in the situation and trying to visualize and achieve what he wanted. Itachi merely gazed at his brother in amusement as the child walked back up to the bed and grabbed on to his brother's legs, pulling them downwards with as much strength as he could muster so that Itachi was lying flat on his back. Itachi raised a curious eyebrow watching as Sasuke took in every inch of his body. The younger then climbed back onto the bed and reached down, placing his hand on Itachi's chest. He rubbed lightly, letting his other hand join the first and touching every exposed skin cell on Itachi's abdomen and pectorals.

Itachi felt so strong to Sasuke. So strong and capable. So _safe. _If Nii-San was around, then nothing could go wrong. He smiled, leaning down and kissing his brother's strong chest. He placed his ear against it, listening to the sound of the weasel's heartbeat. He looked up at Itachi and kissed him again. "It's the same as mine, see?" He lifted the older boy's hands and placed one on each of their chests. Proving that yes, their hearts were beating in perfect synchronization. Itachi slid the hand that was on Sasuke's chest around behind the boy, using it against his back to pull his Otouto down atop him. He then rolled them over so that he was hovering above the eight year old.

When he looked down at Sasuke's eyes- he expected to find them to be nervous or fearful, maybe curious. Instead, the onyx orbs of his little brother were kind and loving. They silently permitted him- _coaxed _him even- to touch. He kissed Sasuke's neck, hearing his brother let out a deep contented sigh at the feeling. His kisses didn't stop there though, not tonight. Tonight they would cross new lines.

Itachi kissed lower down Sasuke's body, worshiping the soft thin flesh of the boy's stomach with gentle licks, nips, and kisses. Carefully, so as not to startle him, Itachi slid down Sasuke's pajama bottoms. The thin cotton fabric was tossed carelessly to the ground somewhere and Itachi was left able to view the object of his desire completely. It wasn't that much of a revelation- they'd been swimming together in the bath only hours earlier, still Sasuke blushed and looked away with a face that clearly displayed embarrassment.

"What's wrong?" Itachi asked, noting his brother's sudden flustered state.

"Yours is so much bigger." the child whispered, lifting a pillow and burying his face in it to hide his adorably modest features.

Itachi smiled, sweetly and took the pillow away from the raven. "Everything about you is perfect, Sasuke. It'll always be perfect- and don't worry. _All _of you is still growing. That includes... here." he said, taking the boy's cock into his hand and molesting him quietly, stroking up and down at a very slow steady pace.

Sasuke purred and groaned lightly, throwing his head back into the pillows as he allowed himself to indulge in his brother's touch. Itachi had never touched him in such a way before- but in truth, he'd spied on the elder a few times and caught him touching himself the same way.

Itachi continued giving Sasuke his first hand-job- honestly he wasn't planning on taking it that far, but his little brother's body was just begging to be touched. "Ah- Itachi! It's... Mmmmm..." Sasuke bucked wildly into his brother's hand, feeling his first orgasm quickly wash over him. He moaned and yelped, clinging desperately to the bedsheets as the feeling surrounded him. But alas, only a few moments later it was over. He looked down at himself in confusion. It wasn't the same as what he'd spied on in Itachi's room.

"Nothing came out..." he commented in a breathy yet concerned tone.

Itachi raised his eyebrows at Sasuke and smirked, leaning down and catching his brother's lips in a kiss. "You're only eight, Sasuke. You've still got quite some time before anything's going to come out." He reassured the boy, rolling onto his back and pulling Sasuke close to his chest. "How does it feel when you watch me do that?" Itachi asked softly. Clearly Sasuke had been watching someone masturbate if he was familiar enough with the process to associate it with ejaculation.

The younger of the two's eyes widened innocently. "Gomen! I don't mean to snoop it just... I like to watch." he murmured in near silent embarrassment. "I know that's a violation of your privacy... I'm really sorry, Aniki... Please don't hate me!"

"Hate you?" Itachi asked in shock.

Hate Sasuke. The mere thought left a bad taste in his mouth. As if he could ever _hate _Sasuke. What a completely absurd notion.

"Otouto, I could never hate you. I love you more than anything else on this earth. Do you understand?"

Sasuke nodded meekly, still very embarrassed.

Itachi frowned, able to tell that his brother was still feeling down. "It doesn't bother me that you watch. I _like _that you watch. I didn't know that you did, but it makes me feel good. You don't have to sneak around, if you see that I'm... doing that... you can still come in my room. Okay? Just wait for me to finish."

"Really?" Sasuke asked excitedly.

"Yes, really." Itachi answered. He knew he was just setting himself up for torture. How the hell was he expected to masturbate to thoughts of Sasuke when the real Sasuke would be right there? Oh well, he'd just have to figure it out. There was nothing that he wouldn't do for his brother. Surely something so simple was easily solved. He looked down- recognizing the familiar sounds of deep sleepy breathing.

Itachi smirked. It seemed that whether it was dry or not- an orgasm caused sleepiness. He briefly considered trying to get himself off really quickly before going to sleep, but realized that he'd have to take his arms out from around Sasuke, and that wasn't something he wanted to do- so he'd just force himself to sleep the boner off. He'd certainly done it before. With a contented sigh, Itachi drifted to sleep.

**A/N: Sorry if this chapter wasn't to your liking... I'm sort of partial about it... eh... whatever. Review please! And take my poll!**

**I love the readers!**

**-Beloved**


	8. Not Just SickMinded

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to major-general of obviousness for giving me hypothetical brownies to munch on and making me feel obligated to update because of that amazing review. And to ItachiSasukeSama for being a loving, patient, and dedicated wife.**

**Enjoy!**

Itachi's eyes darted over to his bedroom door as it slid open and a familiar teen stepped cautiously inside. He crinkled his brow in confusion. "What are you doing here, Shisui? It's not a very good time, Sasuke's not feel-"

"Soup." Shisui cut in, holding up a Tupperware filled with the brownish liquid as evidence. "My mother told me to bring it over for him."

"You can set it down on the end table by my chair."

Shisui nodded and placed the soup down on the table, then seated himself in the chair. "Have you been having a good summer?"

Itachi nodded. He was sitting on a small wooden stool, as his brother slept soundly in his bed. He could hear the hoarse crackling in each breath that Sasuke took and it was a reminder every single second that the boy was ill. There was nothing that Itachi hated more than when Sasuke got sick.

"You guys have fun at the onsen last week? Or is that when he got sick... I suppose it's not like Jiraya to make sure that he's not outside with wet hair."

"I didn't let him outside with wet hair. I'm not an _idiot. _I know how to take care of my brother." Itachi snapped angrily. His cousin merely laughed lightly.

"There's no need to be so short-tempered, Itachi-Kun. I'm merely brainstorming. Has he been sleeping naked during cold nights without covers?" Shisui asked, arching an eyebrow in mock inquisition- as if he wasn't already completely aware of his closest friend's secret feelings.

"No. Sasuke always sleeps with the covers on. He can't fall asleep without feeling warmth against his upper body." Itachi said absentmindedly, staring at the youngster's sleeping form.

Shisui chuckled, noting that Itachi had insisted the boy slept with covers- and said nothing to argue that he didn't sleep naked. He found it to be quite amusing that Itachi still hadn't come out and told him about his feelings for Sasuke. They were best friends, and Shisui wasn't the type to pass judgment- plus it was so damn _obvious _to anyone who knew Itachi well.

"I see. Well, cousin. I'm afraid that not all of us can duck our duties to the Hokage for an entire summer. I suppose I'll catch up with you later."

"Hn." Itachi replied as Shisui left the room. "Otouto?" he mumbled, lightly shaking Sasuke's shoulder. "Wake up now, love. You've gotta have some soup."

Sasuke whimpered and turned away so that his body was no longer facing the seat Itachi had pulled up next to the bed.

"Please, Sasuke... I can't stand to see you so weak and exhausted like this. Just wake up for a moment so you can eat this... it'll make you feel a little bit better, then you can rest again." he begged.

Itachi knew it was impractical to negotiate with someone who was unconscious, but it was worth a try. He gave a slightly defeated sigh, but attempted again to wake his brother. This time, he shook him a little harder.

Sasuke let out a soft cough and a minute later his eyes blinked open slowly and he rolled over again so that he was facing Itachi. Wordlessly, he extended his arms towards the elder, clearly requesting that he be held.

Itachi smiled, and reached under Sasuke's armpits, easily lifting the light-weight boy into his lap, and hugging him close. Sasuke leaned against Itachi's chest and whimpered in displeasure. "Aniki, I'm sleepy." he whined cutely, closing his eyes and nuzzling against his brother in an attempt to go back to sleep.

"I know, but Auntie made some soup for you."

"No." Sasuke said, clearly apposed to the idea of having any soup.

"It's normal not to be hungry when you're sick, but you still should eat." The weasel pleaded.

"But it's gonna hurt me..." the eight year old protested.

"Is your throat hurting?" Itachi asked, not understanding how food would cause his precious little brother pain.

"No, but my tummy is... and that's where the food goes."

"It won't hurt you." Itachi carefully laid his brother back onto his bed and brought the Tupperware over, placing it next to Sasuke. There really was a ridiculous amount of space left. It made no sense to see such a small creature in the middle of such a large bed- but if Itachi had let Sasuke's room be the infirmary then he wouldn't have an excuse to sit with him all day. Letting Sasuke be sick in his room made it a lot less suspicious that he wasn't leaving his side. At all. _Ever. _Or at least until he wasn't so ill...

Itachi stepped over to the door. "Okaasan! He's awake! Could you bring a spoon, please?"

Their mother showed up only a few moments later with a spoon in hand. She smiled sweetly and watched as her elder son carefully sat his brother up on some pillows propped against the headboard and fed him.

It was sweet, Itachi would dip the spoon into the brownish broth and bring it to Sasuke's lips, then rub gentle soothing lines down his throat as he swallowed. When Sasuke finished enough of the soup to satisfy his troubled sibling, Mikoto cleared her throat to speak.

"I've been on the phone all morning with the doctor, Sasuke-Chan. He thinks-"

"I don't wanna go to the hospital! Nii-San, don't make me go!" Sasuke begged franticly, quite unsettled by his mother's mention of doctors.

"No, sweetie, you don't need a hospital. He thinks you've been eating too much junk food- and too much cold food. The constant in-take of cold things like ice, and ice-cream can thin your blood and lower the distribution of iron, which would explain why your temperature is too low. I've thrown out all the ice cream in the freezer, there's no way you need six gallons of it."

Sasuke and Itachi both blushed and looked pointedly away from their mother.

"Furthermore- you need more vitamin C, vitamin A, and potassium."

"I don't wanna take pills! Aniki, don't make me do it!"

Mikoto frowned. Firstly, Sasuke was continuously jumping to the wrong conclusions, and secondly, he clearly cared much more about what Itachi told him to do than he did about Fugaku and herself.

"No, you won't need pills. I can't believe you've managed to be this lucky- but all of those things are found in something that you like very much. You'll need to be having at least one a day from now on."

"What?" Sasuke asked, tilting his head slightly to the right in confusion.

"Tomatoes." Itachi answered with a proud grin, excited that he was knowledgeable enough about vitamins and food to answer his brother's question. Maybe all that time away from Sasuke that he'd spent in school wasn't all that bad after all... nope. It was still terrible.

"Yes, tomatoes." Mikoto confirmed. "You've been sweating under those covers for quite some time. I'm going to change the sheets, then go to the store to stock up on some Kagome* products, okay? Itachi, if you don't mind could you help him out with taking a bath, his body is still pretty weak."

"Of course." Itachi said, helping Sasuke to get out of bed. Had their mother not been right there, he would have picked the child up, but since she'd probably think that was a bit overboard he simply supported Sasuke's entire weight with his arm and walked him into the hallway before lifting him.

Sasuke wrapped his legs around his brother's torso and rested his head on his shoulder. "I don't care if I'm stinky, Nii-San... I wanna go back to bed." he complained.

Itachi let out a light chuckle and kissed the top of his little brother's head, carrying the child further down the hallway into the bathroom and sitting him on the sink counter before turning away to put the water on.

He tested it a few times with his hands, making sure that it wasn't too cold or too hot.

"Otouto, come feel this and tell me if it's okay."

Sasuke carefully stepped down off of the sink and began to remove his clothes. He easily slipped off his flannel pajamas and stepped into the water without testing it first, he sat down and let out a relaxed sigh.

Itachi frowned. "You should have stuck your hand in first..." he mumbled.

Sasuke shook his head. "When you run the water it's always perfect."

Itachi smiled- for the second time today his obnoxious amount of trivial knowledge had been beneficial to his beloved Otouto. Even if it was just the small things- those were the things that really mattered.

"Ita-Nii, get in with me." Sasuke requested, tiredly leaning his head against the edge of the tub as if he was actually going to go to sleep. This thought immediately worried Itachi, he thought of his brother passing out from exhaustion in the tub and drowning- but that was nonsense, obviously. He was standing right there, and he'd never allow such a thing to occur.

Forever obedient to his brother's wishes- Itachi peeled off his own clothing and stepped into the water, sitting down so that he was facing Sasuke. He dampened the washing cloth and squirted a generous amount of body wash onto it, then moved closer to his brother, carefully and gently cleaning his neck, shoulders, chest, and back. Sasuke lazily reached out his arm and let Itachi run the soapy rag over his limbs.

He giggled and squirmed when Itachi cleaned between his toes and started working his way up his legs. When the damp piece of fabric reached Sasuke's mid-thigh, the boy squeaked and grabbed it out of his brother's hand.

He blushed and looked away. "I can finish myself..." he muttered, in embarrassment.

Itachi chuckled, having honestly not even given second thought to washing his brother's more personal areas. He'd done it countless times before, neither of them had ever found it to be remotely sexual... until the trip to the Onsen.

He studied Sasuke's movements as he brought the wash cloth closer to his private parts, but then gasped in shock when the child kicked water up and splashed him in the face. "No peeking, Nii-San!" he insisted.

Itachi sighed and closed his eyes tightly. He could hear the slight splashes of the water, and he waited for permission to open his eyes again. One minute. Two minutes. Five minutes. Ten minutes. The only thing he could hear was loud shallow breathing.

"Otouto, are you alright?"

"H-hai..." Sasuke whimpered out breathily.

Itachi couldn't help it- he _had _to peek. For safety reasons. He didn't let on that his eyes were opened though, he only opened them the _tiniest _amount possible- making the world appear slivered and gray as he was forced to peer through his thick eyelashes.

He studied Sasuke carefully, he hadn't opened his eyes wide enough to see the younger Uchiha's entire body, only his head and shoulders. Itachi heard the breaths increase in speed and desperation. He noted that Sasuke's eyes were wide open. They were looking at him, specifically, they were directed at a place that Itachi would have smacked him for looking- had he been anyone other than Sasuke.

And his shoulders- looking very carefully, Itachi could make out that one of Sasuke's shoulders was twitching and shaking slightly- suggesting that his arm was moving at a fast pace.

Sasuke was masturbating. He was masturbating to the image of Itachi naked- and knowing that, Itachi felt his nude form get a lot more interesting. His brother was getting even more of a view than he was before. Now, instead of a flaccid, half-forgotten, flab of muscle- Sasuke's gaze was fixated on a pulsing, oozing, erection.

He knew. He knew that Itachi knew what he was doing- and somehow, that only made him more aroused by it. Sasuke whimpered and moaned slightly to himself, still not really understanding the feelings he was having. He'd only known that he'd wanted to do this to himself since coming back from the Onsen three days before, but he'd been too sick to think about it. When he'd started to wash himself, the temptation was too great to pass up.

Itachi closed his eyes again, and let his brother have the privacy he'd asked for. At this point, the moans were quite audible, so he'd be able to tell if anything was wrong. He could feel himself trembling with arousal as the little kitten mewls and whimpers traveled to his ears.

Sasuke's sounds of pleasure were like music to Itachi's ears, and he reached down to his own wanting heat and wrapped his hand around it, pumping in slow teasing strokes. He had been told not to touch Sasuke, but that didn't mean he couldn't touch _himself_.

Sasuke's breathing was becoming ragged and forced, both from being sick and being deep within the clutch of pleasure. It was getting to the point where Itachi could hear more moans than breaths, and when he caught the sound of his name on his brother's lips- then a sudden deep breath and silence, it was too much.

He knew what that meant. Sasuke had just brought himself to orgasm- for the first time, he had masturbated. Six inches away from him. And he had cum with a moan of Itachi's name.

The weasel mirrored his brother's orgasmic actions, and whispered Sasuke's name quietly to himself as he released into the warm water. He opened his eyes then, and saw Sasuke panting and clutching the edge of the tub with one hand.

Sasuke looked up to Itachi's face and yelped. "You peeked!" he said with a pout, crossing his arms in mock anger and turning away from that beautiful face that he truly wanted to do nothing but stare at.

Itachi rolled his eyes and ignored his brother's micro-tantrum, snatching the washcloth away from Sasuke's side of the tub and lathering it in a fresh batch of body wash, this time to clean himself off.

Sasuke stepped out of the bath, uninterested in Itachi's cleaning process. He wrapped himself in a towel from the adjoining linen-closet and lied down right there on the floor with another towel under his head.

When Itachi was finished he stepped out and frowned lovingly at the sleeping bundle more formally known as Sasuke. How the kid had managed to fall asleep on the hard tile was beyond him, but he dutifully wrapped the towel that was under his brother's head around his own waist, then lifted the little raven up into his arms and walked them back into his bedroom.

He tucked Sasuke in silently, careful not to wake him, then climbed into bed next to him, pulling him close. What a shame... Sasuke couldn't have ice-cream anymore. He'd have to think of some other way to reward him for their time in the bath together.

Itachi yawned. He truly couldn't think of any material thing that would suffice. Sasuke was already worth so much more than any gift that could be given. No matter, he'd figure out later what treat would be appropriate. In the mean time, he'd shower his brother in undying love and leave it at that.

* * *

><p><em>* Kagome is the #1 seller of tomatoes and tomato products in Japan.<em>

**A/N: This chapter took an oddly long time to write. I kept re-writing and re-wording... Gomen. Please drop me a review! and TAKE MY MOTHER FUCKING POLL! **

**I love you xD**

**-Beloved**


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